Despite heavy criticism of Ukip and of their leader, Nigel Farage seems to be gaining in both momentum and popularity. So what is it that makes him appealing? To many he may seem repellent in his beliefs and his manner, but others are drawn to him. If you put politics to one side and simply analyse his communication style you can begin to understand why.

Recently I was on BBC Radio, discussing Ed Miliband's speech at the Labour Party Conference. As you may have read, he spoke without notes, without a lectern and sadly, as a result, without mentioning some critical points.

What kind of world do we live in now that no one bothers to tell another human being to have a nice day? ... Good manners can make someone's day, so let's all just give it a go. I'm sure we'll feel much better about ourselves as a result, and the world will probably be much nicer.

All Best Man speeches have to be funny. Right? Wrong! By all means go for it and bring the house down - but only if you're naturally funny, nobody wants to end up on YouTube or Facebook in the "Least funny Best Man" category!

David Crystal has been unprecedented. Arguably the greatest linguistic shepherd, Crystal has a penchant for presenting language issues in a reader and listener friendly manner that will never leave you dry as you close one of his books or walk out of the hall where he has been lecturing.

It may sound obvious, but one of the most important aspects of keeping stage fright at bay, is to know what you are performing, and to know it really well. Don't kid yourself that you can wing it. Most of the time, you can't and it is wise to assume you can't.

Something very unusual happened today. Presenter Eddie Mair told us on BBC Radio 4's early evening news programme PM that they were going to play the whole of Charlotte Church's statement after she and her family had settled their case for phone-hacking damages against News International's now defunct News of the World (above).

On Sunday, at 3pm, Queen Elizabeth II delivered her 60th Christmas Message. In this faddish age of rolling news and viral videos, the Queen's speech remains a changeless monument to a bygone era and this year's message was every bit as insipid, patronising and tedious as the previous 59.

In his autobiography, the late Professor A.J. Ayer, noted that he'd been surprised to discover, when appearing long ago on BBC Radio's The Brains Trust, that broadcasting was very different from lecturing - in that it worked perfectly well for him and the other participants to speak at their normal conversational speed.